After the Dust Settled
by Desha
Summary: The story of just what the Turks were doing while Meteor was on the verge of destroying Midgar.


After the Dust Settled  
by Desha  
  
Note: Greetings! After a prolonged absence, Desha has returned. To those of you I left hanging with "Every Now and Then", I apologize profusely... But not to worry... I plan to revive it, very soon. :) Until I can do so, here's a story that I found sitting on my shelf, just begging to be revised and posted. Hope you enjoy! (***Warning: Character death***)  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ya know what? I think it's fairly safe to assume that Midgar is screwed."  
  
Pushing past the throngs of frightened people crowded into the dingy streets of the slums, it was hard no to agree. The decent from the Plate had been more of a stampede than an evacuation, despite the best attempts to keep things calm and orderly. And now, down below in the bowels of the massive city, the unlikeliest of companions were now grouped. People from every walk of life Midgar had to offer, from wealthy businessmen to the grungiest of street vermin. All were cramped into the suddenly too-small area, giving the already over-crowded slums an overwhelmingly claustrophobic air.  
  
"..."  
  
"I say we get the fuck out of here," said Reno as he elbowed his way through the sea of bodies, most of whom seemed to be moving in the opposite direction as the three Turks.  
  
"B-but aren't we safer here, sir?"  
  
"Hell, if that rock up there has it's way, the whole planet's toast. You really wanna die down here in this hellhole, 'Lena?" Reno replied, "Cause I sure as fuck don't." By then, he'd given up on the use of brute force against the terrified inhabitants of Midgar, and instead had resorted to simply shocking the hell out of anyone who happened to be standing where he wanted to be walking with his electro-rod... The startled cries of pain didn't seem to phase him, and Rude didn't appear to think anything of it, though the wide-eyed rookie, who was doing her best to keep up, didn't know quite how to react as she stepped over the stunned individuals lying helpless on the ground.  
  
"No, sir..."  
  
"Then pick up the pace!"  
  
The word quickly spread through the crowd, 'Move, or we'll move you,' and soon people were scattering out of the Turks' path.  
  
"Shit... You guys hear that?"  
  
Above the sound of fearful sobs and cries came a dull roar, but that lasted only a moment, before it was drowned out first by a crash that seemed to shake the very foundation of the city, and then by the panicked screams that rose up from the huddled masses, filling the air with a shrill, terrified chorus of fear that sent a chill down evern Reno's spine.  
  
And then the three Turks learned the true meaning of the word chaos. The streets were thrown into a frenzy as any sense of order was utterly lost. People ran without direction, climbing over one another, pushing, jabbing, shrieking, trampling as they tried to flee to a safety that very well might not have even existed.  
  
Reno staggered back in pain as an elbow collided with his jaw, only to be hit again from behind, the blow sending him to his knees. He'd lost sight of Rude and Elena completely, somewhere amongst the raging disorder. Reno scrambled to get to his feet, yanking his hand back reflexively as a heavy boot mashed his fingers into the ground. The curse he uttered was lost to the riotous noise all around him.  
  
Though the screams, he could only just make out the sounds of destruction high above... a crash here, the screeching agony of metal against descending rock there... But being crushed to a bloody pulp by Meteor was the least of his worries at that moment, given that if he didn't find some cover he was going to be trampled to death first.  
  
At last, he did find shelter, in the form of a rusted, long-abandoned car that sat at the foot of a junk pile. He silently nursed his throbbing fingers as he watched the madness that had taken hold of the citizens of Midgar.  
  
"Where ever you two are, I hope you're alright," he said, suddenly feeling very alone. Reno watched the thousands of feet that thundered past, and for the first time since all of this had started, he allowed himself to be afraid. He closed his eyes and covered his ears, longing for it to simply end, but try as he might, he couldn't block out the screams of terror, or the throbbing him of Meteor's power as if descended upon the city.  
  
And then, for a brief moment, it did stop, intense white light seeping through the gaps in the Plate above. Every last person seemed to freeze in that moment, looking up to take notice, and in those few seconds, Reno was certain it was somehow over... But the light faded all too soon, and suddenly the ominous roar of Meteor was louder than ever, as though someone or something had angered it. And then the first section of the Plate fell. The sound was loud enough to momentarily overshadow that of Meteor. Reno didn't see it fall, safely tucked away as he was, but he knew the sound too well.  
  
"It's all going to come down right on top of us," he whispered. The very idea had seemed so far-fetched not long ago, but not he could hardly believe that he had denied the possibility to himself. Steel and concrete showered down from the Plate, adding an even graver rumbling undertone to the destruction.  
  
His mouth had gone dry and his heart pounded in his chest, almost loud enough to block out everything else. And then, with a crunch and a squeal, the car was crushed like a tin can, and Reno had only seconds to squeeze himself into the backseat before the small space he's been in closed up to less than nothing.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
He didn't know how long he stayed there, curled up in the half-compacted vehicle before he realized how quiet thing had gotten. A deathly silence. He pushed, and pulled, and finally dragged himself free of the twisted metal and shattered glass, tearing both clothed and skin as he wrestled himself out, tumbling gracelessly to the ground.  
  
"Shit..."  
  
He looked back at his little shelter, noting the massive slab of concrete that had smashed the front end of the car nearly flat. He shuddered as he realized just how close it had come to doing the same to him.  
  
Many of those few who could pick themselves up stood in a state of shock and they looked out at the death and destruction that lay around them in the rubble. Others were calling out for help or for friends and family.  
  
Reno looked up. The Plate still balanced precariously overhead, or at least parts of it did. Through the gaps left by the fallen pieces, he could see azure sky, the mockingly cheerful sun... and no sign of Meteor. A grinding creak echoed through the still, dust-filled air of the slums, and Reno heard frantic dries of "Look out!" mere moments before another part of the structure broke away and came plummeting down into the slums, sending up a cloud of yet more dust and debris that exploded outward from the site of impact.  
  
"Rude!... Elena!?"  
  
It took him a moment to realize that it was his own voice calling out. A part of him wanted nothing more than to get out of this death trap before the entire sector finally came down. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to leave without them. If he did, then he'd truly be alone. He heard other names being called as he wandered through the debris, but no one seemed to be calling his.  
  
"Rude, answer me! Elena!"  
  
The more he looked, the more he began to fear the worst.  
  
"Please answer me..." he pleaded softly, "Rude?! Elena! Where the hell are you?!"  
  
"And you say Elena's the one with the big mouth..."  
  
"Rude?" Reno scrambled over a pile of rubble, a wave of relief hitting him as he spied the familiar blue of Rude's suit. Half buried under broken fragments of concrete and twisted metal, Reno was amazed the man was still in one piece. But as he got closer, the ashen color of his friend and colleague's face negated any relief the younger man had felt in finding him. Reno's hands shook slightly as he began to unearth his fellow-Turk, trying not to think about how labored Rude's breathing sounded now that he was close enough to hear it.  
  
"Reno... Go and find Elena."  
  
"What? Rude, come on... We got plenty of time. Just gimme a minute here..."  
  
"I heard her... not too long ago... She's over there somewhere," Rude replied, pointing, with some effort, towards what remained of a small cluster of buildings.  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"Not goin' anywhere... Go get 'Lena. I'll be here when you get back."  
  
Reno swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah, well... You'd better be..." he said, lightly squeezing Rude's shoulder before setting off in search of the third Turk.  
  
"Elena?! Come on... I know I always tell you ya talk too much, but now is not the time to change that! Elena, answer me, dammit!"  
  
Other voices called out to him for help, but he ignored them. He was only looking for one person right now.  
  
"Elena, where in Holy's name are you?!"  
  
"R-Reno?"  
  
The reply caught him off-guard, and for a few seconds he couldn't find the words to respond.  
  
"Elena? Where are you?" he finally repeated.  
  
"In here!"  
  
"Yeah, that helps..." he muttered, moving in the direction of her voice, "Where exactly is "in here", Elena?"  
  
"Here! In what's left of the materia shop!" her voice replied, "Reno, help me... I'm stuck!"  
  
Reno picked his way among the wreckage, eyes scanning the area for the young woman. The shop had been reduced to nothing more than two walls that looked as though they might topple as any second.  
  
"Elena?"  
  
"Over here!"  
  
And there she was, nestled in a corner with a heavy wooden beam, that had probably been part of the ceiling not too long ago, pinning her in place, resting its weight more on the rubble than on her, but holding her tight enough that she could get out from beneath it.  
  
"You hurt bad?" Reno asked as he clambered over an overturned counter.  
  
"No... Just stuck, I think..." She pushed against the beam as if to prove her point.  
  
"Ok... Let's get you outta here," he replied, at the same time wondering just how exactly her was going to accomplish that feat. 'Hope this thing's not as heavy as it looks...' he added mentally.  
  
It didn't take long before he came to the conclusion that freeing Elena was going to be a bit more difficult that he'd hoped.  
  
"I... I don't think you're going to be able to move it by yourself," Elena said after a few minutes of watching Reno attempting to wrestle the beam off of her.  
  
"Well, I don't think we're gonna get a whole lot of help any time soon," Reno replied, straining against the stubbornly immobile object. He crouched down beside her. Above them, the Plate groaned, a constant reminder that they had very little time to get to safety.  
  
"You should get out while you still can," she said, and for once, Reno didn't hear so much as a tremble in her voice.  
  
"You talk too much, Elena," he said softly. Reno braced himself with his shoulders against the beam and his feet against one wall, and pushed. When it didn't move, he pushed harder. He was almost ready to give up and try something else, when suddenly, something gave. The sudden movement was no more than half an inch, but at least it was something.  
  
"Come on... Just a little more..." he grunted, teeth clenched as the beam inched its way over. Elena suddenly let out a bone-chilling scream as the beam shifted position, its weight now fully on her legs. The cry nearly made him stop... but if he had to injure her in order to get her out before they were both killed, then that was just the way it would have to be. At last, it tumbled to the ground with a loud thud. Reno turned back to Elena, only to find that she'd passed out at some point.  
  
"We're outta here," he said, lifting her off of the ground and for the moment, doing his best to ignore the portion of blood-soaked pant-leg just below her knee.  
  
Scrambling over chunks of concrete and metal, downed power lines and half buried corpses on his own had bee effortless compared to his attempts to carry Elena over it all and still keep his balance on the uneven and unstable surfaces. Somehow, he managed it, tripping any number of times, but doing his best not to jostle the injured woman too much.  
  
"Hey! Rude! I found her!" he yelled as he neared the spot where he'd left the other Turk. He set Elena down, carefully leaning her against an overturned refrigerator, and then hurried to his other friend's side.  
  
"Rude?"  
  
Reno lifted the cracked sunglasses from Rude's pale face. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing in shallow, raspy gasps.  
  
"Rude, come on... Don't do this to me."  
  
He shook him gently and Rude's eyes flickered open.  
  
"Not the best time for a nap, pal," Reno said with a weak laugh. He began tossing aside chunks of rock, shattered glass, pieces of houses, scraps of metal... anything else that was in his way.  
  
"Elena..."  
  
"She'll be fine... Won't be walkin' for awhile, but she's more or less in one piece."  
  
Reno's fingers closed around a twisted length of rebar, using it for leverage, only to find that his hand came away stained with crimson.  
  
"Shit..." He pushes aside more of the rubble, felling his chest tighten, knowing what he would see before he could actually see it.  
  
"Get out of here, Reno..."  
  
He almost didn't hear him, the other Turk's voice was so soft, and Reno had to remind himself to breath, staring down at the penetrating wound where the metal had skewered Rude's chest. Tiny bubbles of air escaped from where the blood welled up.  
  
"I'm not leavin' you here to die..."  
  
A massive section of the Plate shifted, and both men heard the pillar that held it groan, straining under the unevenly distributed weight.  
  
"..."  
  
"We still got time."  
  
"Take care of 'Lena..." Rude said, and the invisible hand that gripped Reno's chest tightened still more. Rude coughed violently, a thin stream of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The look in Rude's eyes as he stared up at Reno spoke volumes. 'Go now... Don't say goodbye... Don't look back...' they seemed to plead. Reno hesitated only a moment before wordlessly turning and taking off at a sprint toward the spot where he'd left Elena. He found her awake once more, but he ignored her questions as he gathered her into his arms and started toward the gate that would take them out of Midgar. He refused to give in to the part of him that wanted to glance back.  
  
When they reached the gate, they were greeted by a disordered mass of people, most injured, many desperately searching for others who were no where to be found. After what seemed an eternity, Reno managed to get himself and Elena swept along with the stream of people fighting to leave the city, finding himself on the outside at last.  
  
The sun was shining brightly and looking away from Midgar at the snow-capped mountains, one might have been able to believe that it had all been some horrible dream. Rumors spread through the crowd that Meteor was really gone... they were safe... somehow. Reno carried Elena farther away from the walls of Midgar, and set her down on a small patch of grass.  
  
"Sir? W-what about Rude?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
Reno at last allowed himself a look back at the ruined city, eyes traveling along the silhouette of the pillar and the slab that balanced at a dangerous angle on top of it over the sector they had just escaped. And then, with a perceived slowness more agonizing than anything he'd ever imagined, the pillar gave way, and the Plate fell...  
  
Reno turned away from the sight, and shielded Elena as best he could. A cloud of dust billowed out from the gate, accompanied by shards of glass, bits of rocks, and innumerable other pieces of debris that flew through the air as the huge structure hit the ground.  
  
After the dust settled, he looked back again.  
  
"He was still in there, wasn't he..." Elena said in a choked voice.  
  
"Yeah... He was."  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hey! Turk!"  
  
Reno cringed at the sound of the voice... 'Great,' he thought, 'Just the person I wanted to see...' Elena had fallen asleep at last, sniffling occasionally in her sleep, but she had held back her tears admirably. He had done what he could for her injuries, but she would need real medical attention before long... which unfortunately was in rather short supply at the moment. Thousands of people had been injured. Thousands were dying. Thousands more were probably already dead. Yet he could put a name to only one of those who remained, still, in Midgar.  
  
"What d'ya want, Strife?" he muttered as he placed his torn and bloodied jacket over Elena in a feeble attempt to keep her warm as evening edged into night.  
  
"Figures you rats made it out alive."  
  
Reno's fists clenched at his sides.  
  
"If you're still on your feet, you could at least lend a hand," Cloud continued, "There are a lot of injured people out here."  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
The Turk visibly stiffened, but didn't answer right away. Cloud was momentarily surprised... He'd been ready for the snide, sarcastic comment he'd come to expect from his least favorite of Shin-Ra's hired killers. He watched as Reno slowly turned to face him, a little taken aback when he saw the expression on the Turk's face. His lips were curved into a bitter snarl, eyes flashing with a strange mixture of grief and rage that looked utterly out of place on the man.  
  
"Fuck off, Strife," he growled, "I've got my own problems."  
  
Cloud cast a glance over Reno's shoulder to where Elena lay sleeping. He had to admit, both Turks looked like they'd seen their share of the destruction and mayhem Meteor had wrought.  
  
"Where's your other friend?" he asked hesitantly, though he already had an idea.  
  
"Guess," Reno replied, a sharp edge to his voice. His gaze flickered briefly, almost imperceptibly, toward the ruined city. Cloud said nothing more... simply left Reno to tend to the only other Turk that remained.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reno watched as Cloud disappeared back into the scores of people that littered the area around Midgar, before sitting down beside the sleeping woman he'd pulled from the rubble.  
  
"Take care of 'Lena," Rude's words came back to him unbidden.  
  
"I will..." Reno whispered. After all... She was all he had left.  
  
~*fin*~ 


End file.
